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There’s a good array of controls on the front fascia and the up, down, left and right buttons all double as shortcuts for the often used brightness and volume adjustments. You also get a dedicated auto adjust button to get the image lined up quickly and easily when using an analogue input, as well as a dedicated input select button in case you want to connect two PCs to the same monitor.

At the rear you get both DVI and D-SUB inputs as well as a standard kettle lead type power socket. Hidden behind a removable panel is another connector – this is for an optional video input module, although an optional TV tuner card would have been more appealing.

Once again we’re looking at a native resolution of 1,600 x 1,200, along with a response time of 16ms. Video playback and gaming were no problem with the Philips, as long as you don’t mind the green tinge of course. The contrast ration of 400:1 is not quite as good as the Samsung’s 500:1 though. But to be fair, it's pretty average when it comes to desktop TFT screens.

With a street price of £757.88 the Philips doesn't look too expensive in isolation, but when you consider that you could have the Samsung for only £30 more, its appeal soon wanes. Also, with the Iiyama going for only £668.58 and offering superior image quality, the Philips definitely finds itself out in the cold.

Verdict

What should have been a good monitor is let down by poor colour accuracy, disappointing design and limited adjustability. Considering the competition we can’t recommend the Philips.

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